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Kent Pachuta pushed his black shopping cart through the parking lot of Albertsons in Palm Springs. In it were three grocery bags, two reusable and the third made of high-quality plastic branded with the logo of the grocer. The logo bags he said, were free and part of the store’s effort to increase awareness that typical single-use bags are now banned. Soon, they’ll be available for a small fee.

“I don’t have any problem,” Pachuta said about the plastic-bag ban which started on Monday. “It’s like anything, you just adapt and this is the way we do things now. ... It’s not a big deal.”

Pachuta, 60, keeps bags in his car and bases the number of bags needed for a grocery trip on his shopping list.

“If we’re thinking about conserving water or energy, this is just another step,” he added.

Because of a city ordinance passed earlier this year banning the use of plastic bags, starting this week large retailers and grocery stores have shifted away from plastic bags and instead offer other options for a small price.

“I’m not hearing much negative chatter,” said Michele Mician, city of Palm Springs sustainability manager. “Just because it’s the first couple days I think that [stores] are going to have to educate people and work with them, and remind them to bring their own bags.”

Shoppers are encouraged to supply their own bags, transport their loose groceries to their car via shopping cart or carry their items out. Free reusable bags are available at Palm Springs City Hall.

Smaller stores will be required to make the change in May of 2015. Large stores are considered anything above 10,000 square feet or with more than $2 million in revenue, added Mician.

The state of California enacted a similar ban in late September, becoming the first in the nation. The law is scheduled to take effect in July 2015.

Seeing the environmental effects of such a ban on both a city and state level will be quickly apparent, Mician said.

“We’re going to notice less pollution and less plastic bags flying around in the next year or so,” she said. “Any kind of positive change like that, you’re going to have an impact immediately.”

The city is also offering stores a $500 grant to transition away from conventional packaging methods using less Styrofoam and plastic, taking the sustainability effort further.

The hardest part, many shoppers agreed, will be to simply remember reusable bags.

“I just have to get used to the idea of keeping four or five bags in my car,” said Rancho Mirage resident Gerard Smith in the parking lot of Ralph’s on Sunrise Way. He carried out one brown paper bag for which he paid 10 cents. “It’s going to take some getting used to but I think we can live with it.”